INSTITUTO TECNOLOGICO SUPERIOR DE COSAMALOAPAN

DIRECCIN ACADMICA / SUBDIRECCIN ACADMICA

Jefatura de la Divii!" Etudi# Pr#fei#"ale / PROGRAMA DE INGLS /
E$a%e" &ue e a'li(a ute"tad# e" la "#r%a ) el 'r#(edi%ie"t# 'ara la a(redita(i!" de le"*ua e$tra"+era, -I"*l./
vi*e"te e" l# I"titut# Te("#l!*i(# &ue (#"f#r%a" el Site%a Na(i#"al de Edu(a(i!" Su'eri#r Te("#l!*i(a0
Oil Engineering
Instructions: Read the text carefully frst and then in agree with it, complement each
phrase that on answers sheet show you. (Write with pencil)
Exploration of oil and gas it isnt what you think it is.
.!"id you know that most oil and gas wells drilled in the world were,
and are, done #y small independent oil$gas companies% &ep, It's true,
no matter what the media or other persons of interest say
otherwise. (hese small independent companies were called )ild *at
+perations. (a) They were and still are the leading edge of drilling for
that precious oil and gas, which is so highly co,eted. -et me take you
#ack, and gi,e you some history on how and where this frst came a#out
in what is ./art of a 0!part series.
1.! -et me say there ha,e always #een seeps of oil, #u##ling up from the
ground since the time the world was formed. +il is mainly dead algae or
what geologists and chemists like to say, -ifeless 2ydrocar#ons,
compressed, pressuri3ed and heated which turns into a sludge. 4atural
5as comes from oil that has #een compressed and pressuri3ed e,en
more. )hen I say pressuri3ed, think of a piece of graphite, when you
take it and pressuri3ed it, you get coal, if you pressuri3e it more, you get
a diamond. +il and 5as are the same.6
7 4ow seeps ha,e #een all o,er the world, and most ancient
cultures ha,e used it to make ,arious things and weapons. 8ut the real
start of how the oil #oom #egan in the 9.:., was (itus,ille,
/enssyl,ania on +il *reek ;which is actually called the <llegheny Ri,er
now=. /eople would see a sheen of oil on the tops of the water, and
called it Rock +il. < man #y the name of Edwin "rake, drilled ;actually
pounded= in the area, which started the >urry of the exploration of oil.
0? (his laid waste to the +il 8oom of (exas. (b) A man #y the name of
<nthony @. -ucas, who lead a drilling team, saw the salt dome known as
:pindletop. (he area they were in was well known for oil seeps. )hen
the well has reached down to ,AB ft, the pressuri3ed gas and oil,
launched most of the drilling assem#ly into the airC gushing oil, gas and
water e,erywhere, which then coined the term of any well that gushed
out of the ground a .5usherD. (his started the (exas +il 8oom.
<,. (ecnolEgico :$4, *ol. -os Fngeles
*./. BG7??, *osamaloapan, Her.
(el. ;0II= II0!A ??, II0!?A!AA
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(he picture a#o,e is the spindletop well, which had #een .gushing for
o,er ? days.

(hese pictures show how much the spindletop area grew and the oil
#oom took o,er in (exas.
0B 4ow, how does one .exploreD for oil and gas. )ell, o,er ?? years
ago, how they would explore was to look for nice round mounds, good
si3ed hills. +nly to then reali3e that Just #ecause there is a hill doesnt
mean there is a pocket of oil and gas under it. :o the geologists #egan
to step in. (hese indi,iduals knew what rocks and clay types were on
the surface of a nice oil pocket, and A out of G times, the geologists were
right. @ast forward to today, and times ha,e a changedK
AG (o get the #est cost ,erses waste management, most people (c)
who drill for oil use seismic machines that #ounce sound wa,es. (hese
machines are called thumpers. (humpers use these huge paddles, at
the end of hydraulic arms and stomp ;or thump= the ground for a few
minutes, then mo,e to a diLerent position. (he machine then collects
the data from the sound wa,es #ouncing #ack up and it creates an
image. (hese images can show pockets of oil, gas, water and
sometimes nothing. (he nothing can #e a ca,e, a ,oid, and sometimes
a large geode. 8ack in the M?s and 1?s, they use to use dynamite for
this type of seismic reading.
<,. (ecnolEgico :$4, *ol. -os Fngeles
*./. BG7??, *osamaloapan, Her.
(el. ;0II= II0!A ??, II0!?A!AA
www.itsco.edu.mx
7A 4ow, when you ha,e this #eautiful picture of 3ig 3ag lines, is where
the work for drilling #egins. (he lines can indicate many thingsC )ater,
oil, gas, a ca,e, and in some cases e,en special minerals. )ith this
picture, there are two was to go a#out exploring the strata of the surface
of an area. :hot 2oling or :hot 2oles, which is taking a small drill rig
and going to a certain depth to see the rock formations in the area. +r,
drilling a well, which can either #e a straight hole or hydraulic fracturing,
that I had spoken a#out last week. < shot hole drill is more expensi,e,
#ut can #e instrumental in fnding the right ,ariances in the formations
to truly ha,e (d) an oil or gas feld.
(his /icture is the prefect example of a seismic graph. (he large red
spot in the middle indicates a possi#ility of oil or gas.
GA <n exploration feld is an area where the oil and gas is centered,
which can #e a few acres to hundreds of sNuare miles. 4ow, when the
drilling companies are in an exploration feld, e,erything is still called
speculatory. (his means that e,en though petroleum geologists and
drilling engineers ha,e all this expensi,e information, it doesnt mean
that there will #e any oil or gas of su#stantial Nuantity. )hen the drillers
do drill the frst real well in the area, and hit oil or gas in a new
exploration feld, is called a "isco,ery )ell. (he GB "isco,ery )ells are
all o,er the 9nites :tates. It may #e considered a good well, #ut it also
may #e plugged right after #eing drilled, and ha,e well drilled around it
as an estimate of where to fnd oil and gas. If the feld is found to #e
good, then drilling will continue to extract the oil or gas. If the feld is
.spottyD, as in it has some oil or gas, #ut the oil or gas doesnt mo,e
fast, (e) it can #e called stranded and that is when there shall #e
fracking. +f course, if the feld has #rought up multiple dry holes, the
feld is called a dead feld. (his can also happen in felds that are
decades old, and seem to .dry upD with no oil or gas going into the
wells. If that happens, the holes are plugged and a#andoned ;/O<=.
(here ha,e #een a few instances, where a grad student doing work in
some type of geological feld will go to these old /O< wells for their
thesis, and fnd oil or gas in them. (his has #een happening more and
<,. (ecnolEgico :$4, *ol. -os Fngeles
*./. BG7??, *osamaloapan, Her.
(el. ;0II= II0!A ??, II0!?A!AA
www.itsco.edu.mx
more, with people and drilling companies rechecking or testing old
/O<ed wells.
1 If the drilling and the oil$gas company want to hold oL extracting the
precious minerals, they what is known as a *hristmas (ree on the well.
(hese are really a #unch of speciali3ed pipe, fttings and monitoring
eNuipment ;gauges that watch the /:I of a well=, and can look like (f)
from a distance like a shiny *hristmas (ree. (hese functional pipes and
fttings are special made depending on well type. (hey can #e remo,ed
later if there is to #e a pipeline running through the area, or if the owner
wants to place a holding tank ;oil only= on the property, in which they
would ha,e a /ump Pack which slowly syphons the oil out.
1I +h course these *hristmas (rees can #e on there for years due to
lack of natural gas pipelines, or e,en oil transferring pipelines to
refneries. )ith the key stone pipeline in a hold pattern and *anada not
happy with +#ama, most companies are in a holding pattern, going
#ankrupt or dismantling the #usiness due to the +#ama administration
eLecting small and large #usinesses alike.
IA Exploration of any oil and gas has also taken a huge hit in recent
year. 9nder the 8ush administration, any drilling company and oil and
gas company or corporation, was a#le to take a write oL concerning
exploration, (g) which was put in place with the IR:. (he was called the
+il Exploration (ax *redit and it started in 0??7. (he *redit ended
"ecem#er A, 0?0. Qany people may say, .so whatD if the tax write oL
stops #ecause oil and gas companies make #illions. (his opinion is
notorious is most of the 9.:., though when you ask these indi,iduals how
much it can cost for exploration drilling, they say they do not care or
do not know. (he normal cost for an area, that has easy access with
trucks, trade men, and other trade type #usiness in the area of an
exploration feld, can range from 8 million to 20 million. (his is for
one well, and (h) these are usually independent companies. BA (here
will #e some indi,iduals who will throw the "isco,ery show, .8lood and
+ilD, saying that they did it for one million dollars. (his family owns their
own drilling company, drilled on (i) their own land, and ha,e #een doing
this for decades, so they know the ins and outs, and pro#a#ly are using
the remnants of other wells they ha,e drilled ;pipe, casing, casing
cement, etc.= from other clients. )hen you are in the oil #usiness, and a
small company, you dont throw away perfectly good material. (he
"isco,ery *hannel has already #een known to gi,e money or help pay
for certain items on shows, and ask for the people who are #eing taped
to create drama. :o, that is totally up to the indi,idual on what they
#elie,e.
<,. (ecnolEgico :$4, *ol. -os Fngeles
*./. BG7??, *osamaloapan, Her.
(el. ;0II= II0!A ??, II0!?A!AA
www.itsco.edu.mx
?0 4ext week, in /art 0, I will talk a#out how a well is drilled and ()
what all goes into it.
<,. (ecnolEgico :$4, *ol. -os Fngeles
*./. BG7??, *osamaloapan, Her.
(el. ;0II= II0!A ??, II0!?A!AA
www.itsco.edu.mx